Daniel James "Gus" Gerard (born July 27, 1953) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He played for the Carolina Cougars and Spirits of St. Louis and Denver Nuggets of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the Denver Nuggets,

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division from 1970 ...

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

Kansas City Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Pacific Division ( ...

and

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA).

Career

College

Gerard played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

NBA

Gerard was drafted by the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

in the third round (14th pick, 50th overall) of the

1975 NBA draft The 1975 NBA draft was the 29th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 29, 1975, before the 1975–76 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...

.Basketball-Reference.com page on Gus Gerard
/ref> He was on the 1974–75 ABA All-Rookie First Team and made the 1976 ABA All Star Team. He played in all 84 games of his rookie season. Gerard's best NBA season came in 1976–77 when he averaged 10 points a game for the Denver Nuggets. He finally retired the NBA after the 1980–81 season. Gerard's ABA and NBA careers were hampered by drug problems; after leaving professional basketball Gerard became a licensed chemical dependency counselor and was involved in a program called Bouncing Back, in which athletes like himself, former Spirits of St. Louis teammate

Marvin Barnes Marvin Jerome "Bad News" Barnes (July 27, 1952 – September 8, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. A forward, he was an All-American at Providence College, and played professionally in both the American Basketball Association ...

and former NBA player Dirk Minniefield travel to schools and businesses, sharing their stories about addiction and recovery.Former University of Virginia Basketball Standout Gus Gerard Returns April 7 to Discuss Road to Recovery From Cocaine Addiction

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Gus 1953 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Pennsylvania Buffalo Braves players Denver Nuggets players Detroit Pistons players Kansas City Kings players Sportspeople from Uniontown, Pennsylvania Portland Trail Blazers draft picks San Antonio Spurs players Small forwards Spirits of St. Louis players Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball players 1974 FIBA World Championship players